Crate question

[LORRIE PAULUS]

Rosie (14 weeks) sleeps about 6-7 hours a night for the most part and has been since we got her (8 weeks).  She very occasionally will wake up 3-4 hours after going to bed.  I am still afraid to not let her out at night if she cries, although I am finding that she is just testing us because she doesn't have the "OMG let me out" urge when she comes out.  We both work full-time and my husband travels--when he's home he leaves at 8:30 and I leave at 5 am.  When he is in town  I have a pet sitter who comes in 4 hours after he leaves to let her out for an hour.  When he is gone I get up at 3:30 and play for an hour and then the sitter comes at 7:30 to feed her and play until about 9;15.  She comes back around 12:30.  I am home usually by 4:30 at the latest.  What are your experiences with leaving your dogs in the crate during the day, i.e., time?  I am considering stopping the 1x a day visit when he is in town and taking the 2x a day to 1x a day when he's gone; she's getting spayed on 2/28 and I am thinking about doing this when she's healed.  Since she can go 6-7 hours at night and sleeps most of the day, I am hoping this will work.  What are your experiences?  Do the frequent potty trips during the day have any bearing on how long they hold it at night, i.e., is this counterproductive to them learning to hold it?

[Bill Burkhart]

Our Lucy is 13 weeks old. We got her from at breeder when she was seven weeks old. The breeder had crate trained her. She has slept eight hours every night since the day we got her, and only woke up once in the middle of the night to go outside. However, I take her outside every hour from when she wakes up in at 6:00 AM until she goes to bed at 10:00 PM. As soon as her paws hit the snow outside, she pees. If I don't take her out, she simply squats wherever she is in the house, which rarely happens because I am consistent in taking her out. I am wondering if I am "overdoing" the potty trips? I'm retired, so this gets me "off the couch" so I don't mind. But I wonder when she's going to go to the door herself and initiate a trip to the yard?

[Vivian & Mojo]

When I brought my puppy home at 8 weeks he slept 8 hours at night but I also took him out every hour or he would pee in the house, I took him out every hour until he was four months old than every 90 minutes and still at 10 months old take him out every 2 hours even though he hasn't had an accident in 3 months. He just started going to the door last month but never would ring his potty bells but I ring them every time and he will gently nose them as I ring them. I'm still hoping he will start to ring them on his own so if I'm not seeing him go to the door I will hear the bells.

[Brittney Dickson]

Thanks so much for posting Lorrie Paulus! It's seems that my from my breeder to most of the doodle community they expect that everyone is a stay at home mom or dad or can afford a costly puppy nanny's. it's nice to know someone out there is having to juggle multiple work schedules and a new puppy for two working doodle parents :) Keep me updated on your solutions, we get our Mini Goldendoodle in June!

[LORRIE PAULUS]

Oh we both work and we worked when we had our Springer Spaniel.  I was not going to let that deter me from getting another puppy...when we became empty nesters I decided I needed another baby!  I have since found out that my oldest daughter is pregnant with our first grandbaby in October (she has a 6 mo old lab puppy).  I lucked out on the pet sitter.  A good friend of mine lives behind us and her 10 year old is homeschooled and has been begging for a puppy.  She has 3 children, two under the age of 3, so a puppy isn't good for them now.  But her daughter is the one pet sitting for me and I am paying her $8 a day to do so.  It really worked out well and is easy on my tight budget too!  But I do eventually think I can cut out the 1x a day visit when my husband is in town, and his travel is supposed to end in April!

[kristine & Auggie]

Good post and i am wondering the same thing.  I have been off work since we got Auggie 3 weeks ago.  He is now 13 weeks old and I will be going back to work in the next few weeks.  I am not sure if I should crate him or lock him in the kitchen where he could get into some mischef.  I think crate would be safer.I could rush home  at lunch but a pet sitter would sure be better if I could find someone responsible.

I am a nervous wreak about leaving him for so long.  I will probably just be working part time for a while but it is still scary.

[LORRIE PAULUS]

It's hard to go back to work, but Rosie was fine.  My concern is that she's being let out TOO MUCH during the day and she's not learning to hold her bladder.  That's why I am considering not having the pet sitter come so much.  It's nice that she has company and gets to play, but I also do not want her to backslide and start getting up every hour to potty at night.

[J&J]

Hi Lorrie! Let me start with my recommendation and then tell you my story so you can stop reading if you want ;)

Keep the dog walker... even though your pup might be able to hold it, he/she might get resentful for being locked up all day or very bored. These pups have a LOT of energy and as they get older surprisingly need more exercise! Also, if you trust that your puppy can hold it at night, consider putting the crate in your bedroom and leaving the door open at night. (Or closed) ... The thought is you still get "bonding" time even if you are all sleeping :) If they are crated, and are reliably holding potty in crate, don't let them "play" you by getting you up with a cry!! They learn quick what they get away with!

So here's our story...

Admiral is our (almost) 1yo medium Goldendoodle, about 30#. My husband and I also both work full time, so it was important to me to get a good schedule for our puppy. The dog walker is important for me bc he doesnt have nearly as much pent up energy when i get home so i can enjoy him without having to correct him constantly. It also makes me feel better knowing he's not cooped up all day!

My husbands work hours are usu 5am-6pm, and mine are 6am-6pm. My husband wakes up at 4am and gets ready for work. Around 4:30, he takes admiral downstairs for a potty break and to refill his breakfast bowl. In 10-15min, Admiral eats his breakfast and goes back to bed with me until I bring him back down at 5:30 for a potty break. He goes back in his crate when I leave for work. We have a dog walker that let's us split up 1h. So she comes at 11/11:30 for a 10-15min walk and potty break. Then she comes back for a 30-45min walk around 1/1:30. He is very comfortable in his crate, and doesn't mind going in during the day. We have not been crating him at night since he was 16wks old bc he is crated during the day and we know he can hold it through the night.